A crisp display of cherry and raspberry fruit and a core of tangy acidity; nervy, Burgundian and balanced with fresh flavors and good depth; long and zesty.

Dense, bold and extracted with intense blackberry and cherry fruit; dusty, deep and voluptuous with minerals and ripe fruit; lush and long.

Bright and fresh with medium weight and excellent structure; juicy plum and well-proportioned tannins; long, elegant and balanced.

Smooth, attractive melon and white peach fruit; quite elegant, the oak inputs well-controlled and balanced.

Lush, ripe and concentrated with smooth, creamy texture and lot of oak; rich, dense and showing spice and depth.

Smooth and ripe with lovely plum, raspberry and spice; fresh, generous and balanced with a long pure finish.

Nice spicy juicy fruits; attractive, ripe but fine tannins; very different to the varietal blend of the same wines.

Good colour; a super-ripe mix of plum, prune, chocolate and vanilla; overall, a touch too sweet. Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre.

Dusty and juicy with excellent structure and nice, edgy style; fresh and balanced.

Dense, rich and showing ripe cherry, cola and spice; opulent and smooth with good structure and balance; long and complex.

Bright ruby-red. Reticent aromas of dark berries, pepper and herbs. In a distinctly cool style, with a raw suggestion of green pepper. Finishes with peppery tannins. Nicely juicy and brisk but seems a bit undernourished.

This blend of 87% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec (the highest percentage of Merlot ever used for Le Desir) reveals notes of truffles, mocha, wild mountain berry fruit, crushed rock and coffee. Fabulous fruit, tremendous viscosity and opulence and a full-bodied, voluptuous texture result in a wine that is hard to resist even though it remains an adolescent in terms of development. It should provide pleasure over the next 15+ years.

This 93% Merlot / 7% Cabernet Franc blend (92% from the Alexander Mountain Estate, 6% from Bennett Valley and 2% from Knight's Valley) is a kissing cousin of the 2001, only softer and more flamboyant. Classically Californian in its exuberant, flamboyant, super-rich, unctuously textured style, the tannins are softer than in the 2001, but the wine unquestionably has the potential to last for another quarter of a century. It exhibits an opaque plum/purple color along with abundant notes of cassis, licorice, graphite, coffee cake and spice box. More approachable than the 2001, the 2002 will offer phenomenal drinking over the next 25 years.

How much fun collectors will have comparing the 2007 and 2008 La Joies over the next three decades. A blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec (48% from Alexander Valley Mountain Estate, 34% from Chalk Hill and 18% from Knight's Valley), the 2008 has similar technical numbers to the 2007 (a pH of 3.68 and 14.4% alcohol). Wonderful notes of roasted herbs, asphalt, black truffles, blackberries, cassis, camphor and subtle oak are present in the majestic aromatics. In the mouth, the wine is extraordinarily concentrated, pure and dense with amazing length. It is another 30-40 year wine that confirms the confidence the late Jess Jackson had in both his vineyard sources and his winemaker, Pierre Seillan.

Absolutely prodigious, the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain was fashioned from the Keyes Vineyard (formerly known as the Liparita Vineyard) owned by the Jackson family. A fabulous perfume of crushed rocks, a liqueur of raspberries, black currants and cherries, and a background floral note emerges from this intense, full-bodied Cabernet. It possesses impressive equilibrium, a skyscraper-like texture and a finish that goes on for nearly a minute. There is plenty of tannin remaining in this youthful 2001. It is a stunning, statuesque, compelling Cabernet Sauvignon from a high elevation, cool climate Howell Mountain vineyard that should age effortlessly for another quarter of a century. Winemaker Chris Carpenter, who has worked for the late Jess Jackson for many years, hit pay dirt at Lokoya in nearly every vintage. Certainly these 2001s have aged magnificently over the last decade. These 100% Cabernet Sauvignons are aged for 18-22 months in 100% new French oak and are bottled with no fining or filtration.

A blend of 87% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec (3% from the Alexander Valley Mountain Estate, 49% from Chalk Hill and 48% from Knight's Valley), exhibits a Bordeaux-like personality. Thick, viscous and rich with great elegance, tremendous purity and intensity as well as a full-bodied sweetness, it offers notes of caramel, mocha, coffee roast, black cherries and black currants. This supple, velvety-textured, opulent 2005 is accessible now and capable of lasting another 20-25 years.

The first truly profound Le Desir, this blend of 49% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits the deepest, most concentrated and multidimensional personality of the first five vintages of this cuvee. A dense plum/purple color is accompanied by notes of graphite, forest floor, unsmoked cigar tobacco, licorice and fruitcake. Full-bodied, layered and opulent, the 2004 can be drunk now or cellared for two more decades.

This 88% Merlot / 8% Cabernet Franc / 4% Cabernet Sauvignon blend is equal parts Alexander Mountain, Knight's Valley and Bennett Valley fruit with a tiny bit from Dry Creek. The wine grew incrementally as it sat in the glass. A dense purple color was followed by aromas of loamy soil, charcoal, asphalt, Verona chocolate, freshly brewed espresso and abundant blackberry and cassis fruit. This deep, rich beauty is still young and primary, but is loaded with potential. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2035.

Composed of 84% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Malbec (51% from Knight's Valley, 38% from Bennett Valley and 11% from Chalk Hill), the 2003 boasts copious chocolate espresso notes, fabulous fruit intensity, an unctuous texture, wonderful freshness and a long finish. With higher alcohol (14.2%) than most of its siblings, it comes across as somewhat of an adolescent even though it has reached full maturity. Like the 2002, it can be consumed with great pleasure now or aged for another 20-25 years.

A spectacular blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec, over two-thirds of the fruit from the Alexander Valley Mountain Estate and the balance from Knight's Valley and Bennett Valley, the 2002 La Joie exhibits a sweet, opulent bouquet of charcoal, burning embers, forest floor, blackberries and kirsch. Deep, full-bodied, supple-textured, flamboyant and extroverted with undeniable purity as well as finesse, it should drink well for another 20-25 years. Interestingly, the pH is a normal 3.61 and the alcohol is only 14.1%.

The 2001 Le Desir (50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Malbec) came from Alexander Valley Mountain Estate fruit (two-thirds), 30% from Chalk Hill and a tiny dollop from Knight's Valley. The most evolved of these three wines, it exhibits complex notes of spring flowers, underbrush, truffles, forest floor, camphor and red as well as black fruits. It possesses an opulent, full-bodied mouthfeel, fabulous purity and density and a long finish. The finish for all three of these wines lasts for close to a minute. Each represents extraordinary craftsmanship and, essentially, vinous confirmation of the vision of the late Jess Jackson. Those who think too many California wines are over the top may be surprised to know that the 2001 La Muse has a pH of 3.63 and a real natural alcohol of 14.1%. La Joie's pH is 3.65 and its alcohol is 14.2%, and Le Desir's pH is 3.68 and its true alcohol level is 14.1%.

A blend of 89% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Sauvignon (84% of the fruit from Sonoma and 16% from Napa), the 1999 is soft enough to be considered fully mature. Sweet aromas of espresso roast, plum sauce, black currants and forest floor are followed by a delicious, chewy, complex wine that should drink well for another 12-14 years.

A barrel sample of the 2009 La Muse, a blend of 86% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec, was from the Bennett Valley (31%), Chalk Hill (42%) and Alexander Mountain Estate (27%). Sweet cassis, crushed rock, spring flower, black currant and coffee notes as well as an undeniable minerality emerge from this big, full-bodied, powerful wine. Surprisingly deep and concentrated for a 2009, it may turn out to have the longevity of the 2005.

The 2001 La Joie (71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc) remains a backward, youthful wine revealing an inky/purple color as well as notes of graphite, licorice, creme de cassis, truffles and new saddle leather. It has fabulous fruit on the attack and mid-palate, a massive, concentrated, tannic mouthfeel and a long finish. Even younger than La Muse, it needs another decade of cellaring and should age for 40-50 years thereafter. Pierre Seillan told me that 44% of the grapes came from Alexander Valley, 35% from Knight's Valley and the rest from Chalk Hill. These are the visionary efforts of the recently deceased Jess Jackson, one of the great men in California's history of high quality winemaking. Verite was started in 1998, when Jess Jackson brought over Bordelais winemaker Pierre Seillan, and essentially gave him carte blanche authority to pick the best fruit he could to fashion these three cuvees. La Muse is his version of a Pomerol, made from Jess Jackson's high-elevation vineyards in Alexander Valley, Knights Valley and Chalk Hill, the La Joie is his Medoc look-alike from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and of course, Le Desir is a Sonoma clone of a St.-Emilion, made generally from high quantities of both Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with just a little Cabernet Sauvignon in them. These wines are the epitome of natural wine, aged 24-32 months in new French oak, with wood staves selected by Jackson and his team in France, and the wines then bottled unfined and unfiltered. There's no acidification, no additional concentration by reverse osmosis, and obviously no water added. The production of each cuvee runs between 1,500 and 2,000 cases. According to Pierre Seillan, the aim was to produce wines capable of lasting 25, or in some cases, even 40+ years, and based on the three vertical tastings I did of all the cuvees made to date, the great vintages will certainly attain that potential longevity.

One of the flagship wines of the late Jess Jackson's Artisans and Estates limited production offerings is the 2001 Cardinale, a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Merlot from some of the finest Jackson-owned vineyards on Mt. Veeder, Keyes on Howell Mountain, Alexander Mountain Estate as well as purchased fruit from the Stagecoach, To-Kalon and Peter Michael vineyards. This sensational, layered, opulent, voluptuous 2001 (the last vintage in which any fruit from Sonoma was used in the final blend) boasts a dense purple color along with a big, rich perfume of kirsch, creme de cassis, subtle toasty oak and incense. Full-bodied, round and generously endowed with an endearing corpulence, this fleshy, full throttle, juicy Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated 2001 can be drunk now or cellared for another 15+ years.